''The Private History of a Campaign that Failed'' is one of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's sketches (1885), a short, highly fictionalized memoir of his two-week stint in the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard. It takes place in Marion County, Missouri, and is about a group of inexperienced militiamen, the Marion Rangers, who end up killing a stranger in panic. (In 1887, he claimed before Union veterans that he had been in one battle in which a stranger had been killed in the summer of 1861. In fact, Twain saw no action; he quipped that during his service he spent more time retreating while being hunted than fighting.)Civil War Saga Mark Twain
/ref>

Television film

In 1981, a

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of ''The Private History of a Campaign that Failed'' was broadcast on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

starring Edward Herrmann,

Pat Hingle Martin Patterson Hingle (July 19, 1924 – January 3, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. His first film was ''On the Waterfront'' in 1954. He often play ...

, Joseph Adams,

Harry Crosby Harry Crosby (June 4, 1898 – December 10, 1929) was an American heir, World War I veteran, ''bon vivant'', poet, and publisher who for some epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking fam ...

and Kelly Pease. The film also adapts Twain's short story " The War Prayer".

Cast

* Edward Herrmann as The Stranger *

as Col. Ralls *Joseph Adams as Capt. Tom Lyman *

as Cpl. Ed Stevens *Kelly Pease as Cab *Gary McCleery as Second Lieutenant *Roy Cockrum as Sgt. Bowers

References

External links

*
Full text

mp3 audiobook 43:37

EPUB
* Short stories by Mark Twain American Civil War memoirs 1885 short stories Short stories adapted into films Marion County, Missouri Missouri State Guard 1981 television films 1981 films 1981 comedy-drama films American television films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Peter H. Hunt Works about Missouri 1980s American films {{story-stub